Common Adventurer
An excerpt from The Life of the Common Adventurer “Ever since The Great Darkness occurred, nearly 30 years ago, the inhabitants of Malidore have been struggling to recover. Life was never exactly easy prior to that disaster, but the hardships are even more pronounced these days. Outside those that are born into positions of opportunity the rest of us have to work hard in order to find our place within the world. We are fortunate that the Council has seen to it that education is important and many have had the chance to gain some form of schooling. And while this is good it is often not enough. The Council recognized that there was still a gap within society and, despite their best efforts, some people were still falling through the cracks. The idea of a utopia was never the intent of the Council. They completely understand that is a goal that is unattainable. However, they still strove to help as many citizens as possible because they understood that hard times can lead to bad decisions. Cities across Malidore were seeing a rise in crime. Some good, but desperate people were doing what they could to just survive. Seeing this the Council decided to work with the Zentharim and the Harpers in creating a network of Guild Halls across all the major cities. These Guild Halls are now providing work to those the unskilled or uneducated citizens. At the same time, this also serves as a sort of militia for the Council. They are relieving each Nation from the responsibility of securing land beyond their borders by providing a sort of volunteer guard that patrols, investigates, and deals with problems within these unclaimed lands. In return, these explorers, fighters, and general adventurers are tasked with looking for any rare relic or artifact of the past that can be then turned over to the Council for study. This is how I’ve obtained most of my resources in my search to uncover our past histories. The Halls themselves act as a boarding house or Inn for these adventurers-for-hire. Food and living arrangements are covered by the Council as long as the individuals are in good standing with the Guild Hall. Those that may face a risk of combat are also provided with basic weapons and armoring. Part of being employed by the Hall is that you agree to turn in any item, coin, or rare finds upon returning to the Hall after an assignment. The Hall then pays the adventurer a share of what was found. This provides an income to the individuals as well as the organizations running the Hall. The Guild Hall covers a vast array of tasks that come in from a wide range of contracts. The most common of these are Exploration, Beast Hunting, and General Adventuring. Exploration contracts are handled directly by the Council. They are always seeking information regarding our history. Whether by rumor or reliable information sources, the Council will post Exploration Contracts that often send adventurers off into far away locations. Information regarding these locations is rarely complete. The adventurers understand that they may not known what they could possibly encounter during their journeys. Beast Hunting contracts are handled by the Harpers. These contracts may be simple “pest control” assignments formed with outlying citizens that are plagued by beast attacking their livestock. However, occasionally, a contract from something such as the Merchant Guild may hire adventurers to hunt more dangerous beasts that are inhibiting trade routes. These contracts are known to be dangerous and usually pay a little better than others, but the risk of personal injury is also much higher. General Adventurering contracts are a sort of “catch-all” assignments. These duties may include the mundane such as the escorting of nobles, delivering messages to remote outposts, or even working as additional City Guard on the rare occasion. These contracts are handled by the Zentharim. It is probably the best unkept secret that the Zentharim don’t always conduct the most legitimate business practices. They are rumored to have dealings with the black market and other entities of questionable moral pursuits. It would be no surprise that the contracts they handle have other motivations or unwritten stipulations attached. The Council allows for this, but does keep a watchful eye on them. In total, the Guild Hall endeavor has been a big success for our struggling society. We have even seen more accomplished individuals seeking employment with the Halls, not just those without employment. Also, over the life of the Halls so far, a few adventuring groups have become successful enough to make a name for themselves and managed to venture into their own business as notable Adventurers-for Hire. This, in turn, has also lead to more interested parties in joining the ranks that fill the Guild Halls."